Wednesday, 11 May 2016

Butterfly ovum, [eggs] part 3

Brimstone ovum are more commonly laid on Common Buckthorn and Alder Buckthorn on both sides of the leaves, normally on small fresh leaves,

Freshly laid Brimstone ovum

but can also be found on more mature Buckthorn leaves.

Brimstone ovum laid on a mature buckthorn leaf

Or laid close to a leaf bud on a Buckthorn stem.

Brimstone ovum laid on a Buckthorn stem

After a few days the Brimstones ovum turns a light dirty yellow in colour and hatch after about one week.

Brimstone ovum

Common Blue ovum are commonly laid on Bird's-foot Trefoil on the tops of the leaves and hatch after about 10 days.

Common Blue ovum

Purple Hairstreaks lay their ovum just beneath an unopened Oak leaf bud. They overwinter as an egg with a fully formed larva inside. The tiny larva normally emerge at the beginning of April.

Purple Hairstreak ovum

Red Admirals, like the Comma lay their ovum on the tops of Nettle leaves but not normally on the edges of the chosen leaf like the Comma even though this does sometimes occur. The ovum are normally laid on small fresh leaves. And hatch after about one week.

Red Admiral ovum

On rare occasions the ovum might be laid on the underside of a Nettle leaf

Red Admiral ovum

White Admiral ovum are laid on the upper edge of a Honeysuckle leaf and hatch after about a week, this can vary due to the weather conditions.